...and then you blink

Coming Soon...

My first finished HAT! I am SO excited! It is the umbilical cord hat from the first Stitch 'n Bitch book. Pictures soon...promise :o)

Pictures, I've got 'em

The red and purple one is what I made for my niece for her birthday. She saw me knitting the first one (pictured a few posts below), and told me she wanted a red coat and a red scarf. I think she'll be surprised. She will pretend she's a movie star ;)

The blue fluff on my needle is the GGH Gracia I'm making for my sister's birthday. It is just awesome! It feels like feathers. The black flecks make it have the right amount of texture. It rocks!

Here are a couple of closer pics:

Sickies...

It's bad when you're ready to go to work to get a break. I've had a sick baby at home, and it's been just exhausting. Last night was awful because you just can't talk logic to a 2 year old. I could not make him understand that if he ate a hot dog and chips (which he was begging for) he would have a sick tummy again. I was bad mommy, and he was on the floor crying. I had a killer headache, but I could not eat anything around him since he was already having a fit over food (or lack thereof). I ended up not eating until after he went to bed, and felt so guilty the whole time because I knew he was hungry - just too sick to hold the things he wanted down. Thank goodness he didn't have an episode all night and felt good this morning.

In other "non-sick" news
I have finished my scarf from below, and I have also finished a reddish purple one for my niece's birthday Saturday. I'll post a pic of it this afternoon. Today I am starting one for my sister's birthday, which is next week. It is so cool...it's GGH Gracia in a pale blue with black flecs. It is super soft! I think it look fab with her black leather coat. Speaking of new yarn...I bought it at the new yarn shop that opened this month in a neighboring town. It is still trying to build its stock, but I loved it! I bought myself 2 skeins of Muench Furrari Mohair . I can't wait to get started on it! Pics soon - I promise!

Oh fun fur, you tempt me so...

I've abandoned my never-ending scarf for sweet, sweet instant gratification. I love the colors in this Lion Fun Fur (it's called Sandstone) - ice blue, cream, and this browny mauve color. It is coming together so fast! Yay! Since I live in a small town, there is no LYS; the only place to get anything is Wal-mart. You can imagine how limited I am. I had to buy a cotton crochet yarn to use with the flimsy Fun Fur. I hope it's still not too thin.

I have been absorbed in knitting blogs/sites all weekend. I've found several that are in close proximity to me(through Southern Knitting Blogs webring). There is so much to learn! I'm upset because I have to miss Knit-In tomorrow night. I have a mandatory regional cheerleading sponsor meeting I have to attend or our school gets fined (big whoop.). I'm contemplating asking my mom to babysit wild child so I can get some knitting done at our football game Thursday night. We'll see....

Oh my...will it ever end?

Here is the scarf I've been working on since Sunday afternoon. I'm beginning to think I will never finish it. I'm knitting it on size 8 needles, and I cast on 30 stitches. Like a true beginner, somehow I added on 2 stitches somewhere, so I was up to 32. Well, last night I noticed a notch out of the right side (you can clearly see it in the pic). Sometime I dropped down to 31 stitches there on the end. Oh well...it's my beginner project. I think I'll be working on it until the day I die, but it's still my first. I'm using an inexpensive acrylic called "Fall Splendor," and I think the colors are very soothing. I *so* wish I had started this thing on larger needles. You live and you learn, right?

Calling Baton Rouge

Whew, Monday again? It feels like I've had no break at all. The hubs has been on the road all weekend with football games, and then this morning (at 3:00! am!) he left for Baton Rouge, LA and Tyler, TX - all within 48 hours. He has to go for work (found out Friday at lunch). I have parent-teacher conference tonight, which makes for a l-o-n-g day.

I'm coming right along with my basic garter-stitch scarf. (I'll post a pic soon.) I frogged my first attempt (I was making it in the stockinette stitch, but I didn't like it), and started over yesterday. I find myself just itching to knit. I can't wait to pick it up again every day. But, you see, I am very impatient. I want to be finished so I can start something else, just as I am beginning what I was starting in the first place. Does that make sense? Well, humor me please. Today is not the day to tell me I'm not making sense. Ya'll have a good one...

Knit the knits, purl the purls

I've finally learned to knit! Of course, I haven't actually knit anything but swatches, and I haven't learned how to bind off yet...BUT I CAN KNIT - AND PURL! Yay me! Last weekend I met the woman who "heads up" the Knit-In at my local library (which I've been to intimidated to go to because I thought it was all advanced knitters) and she told me that I was more than welcome to come and learn, that many of the knitters were beginners. I seemed to catch on pretty quick, but the bobbles that I kept hitting - slipped stitches, adding a stitch at the beginning of rows, and other random crazy things that no one knew what I did - were plentiful. Since I don't know how to bind off, and I don't want to frog my very first thing, I'll just leave it on my needles until I can figure out the binding off pics in Stitch 'N Bitch. I'm not sure about Sally jumping over Harry. It's all so confusing!

What I've been up to...

I've been sewing like a mad woman trying to get this made for Chase to wear during football season here at my school (he'll be at all the games because I'm the cheer sponsor, and the hubs is a football offical for this district). I'm pretty proud of it, and can't wait for the outfit to be complete.

'n bitch, bitch, bitch

This past weekend I bought Stitch 'n Bitch, some variegated yarn, and size 8 needles thinking I would have a scarf potholder coaster by the end of the weekend. Girls, I'm here to tell you...I must be a visual learner. I'm just going to have to have someone physically show me how to do this. I just cannot decipher the pictures/instructions in SnB, and the videos just go to fast for me to see what they are doing. (I really shouldn't be trying to learn this week because I have a smocking project going on that I need to finish first - but you know how that goes).
I have a family reunion this weekend, so I've decided that I'm taking my knitting paraphernalia along because SURELY someone will know how to knit! I do have another option, but I really hated to do it. A knitting group meets every Monday at the local library, and I can go there to have someone teach me (but I hated to use their knit time to teach stitches to me, ya know?)

If any of you knit, how did you learn?

I like mine with lettuce and tomato...

I'm sorry I haven't had anything to say for the past few days. It's been a pretty quiet week/weekend. I did get to do a little shopping last Wednesday (mostly for birthdays). I did buy myself a couple of things for work since I GO BACK THIS WEEK! I know I keep saying it, but I just can't believe it is back to school time again. I am going to have such a hard time getting up in the mornings, especially since I have to take Chase to the babysitter's this year (the hubs took him last school year).
Speaking of Chase, he is still sleeping in his "big boy" (read: his OWN) bed. We're getting ready to put up a twin for him this week. I've been lusting over a quilt from PBK, so I'm going to use my yard sale money and get it. (Is it even possible to lust over children's bedding? Sounds bizarre, don't ya think?) He has been the cutest thing this week...shocker of all shockers, heh? He has developed this habit of saying "all queen" (all clean) whenever we finish something...for example, when I snapped the buckle after putting him in his stroller, he said "all queen!" After hooking all of his (6) Thomas the Trains together, he said "all queen!" (you get the picture) He also developed a (bad) habit of saying "look mama, shit" and pointing to his poopy diaper that I am changing. (yes, I'm a bad mama...this whole thing came from a tragic potty training episode last week when he pulled down his poopy pull-up to use the potty. You can guess, poop everywhere! You can also guess what I said...) And, perhaps the funniest, he has developed a deep affection for the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise." You haven't lived till your 2.5 year old is singing Jimmy Buffett!
Last night we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday. I'm sharing a few pictures with you in the extended entry. One is of the flower arrangement I made for the centerpiece. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, and my mom loved it.
I'll be around some this week, but it'll be hectic. Ya'll have a great week!

Bags

As promised, here are pics of two of the bags I have made. The first is a chenille diaper bag that I put together last night and gave to my good friend today. It was really tough to work with this fabric (that is SO cute) because you couldn't iron it. When I tried to use the iron on it, the chenille changed colors. This little snafu made the handles a total bitch to do.
The second pic is one of the first (actually it was the third) bag I made, which I gave to my sister. She picked out that cool yellow lining. (yes, that pic was made in Wal-Mart...I was in a hurry before she left to go back to college.) That last pic down there is the fabric I bought yesterday while in Clarksville. I just fell in love with the colors in the striped fabric, and decided I couldn't leave without getting the provencial-looking duo as well. I can't wait to use them!